Everything that we've been talking about technology in the classrooms has really started to come together after these first few weeks in the field. More specifically, it's started to become more clear the challenges that most of will face in our future schools.
What has struck me the most so far are the "age limits," so to speak, that seem to come as a footnote to technology availability and use. I'm placed at a middle school, and just from looking at the options on our tech surveys and talking to my classmates, I've begun to notice some differences in what is available for the students at my school.
Some things can be attributed to legal reasons; most sites don't allow students under 13 to sign up for accounts. That's about 3/4 of our school population. Of course, that doesn't mean students DON'T have accounts on sites like Facebook and Twitter, just that they aren't technically SUPPOSED to...
Similarly, the use of technology in the school is very heavily monitored. The acceptable use policy for middle schoolers in AAPS (which is different from the high school/faculty policy) has explicit instructions for how students are supposed to pick up, carry, and in general handle laptops from the portable carts. This isn't to say high schoolers don't get the same warnings, just that I sense that middle schoolers really need some extra instruction when it comes to how to properly carry a laptop across the room. Similarly, our first day in the computer lab came with a 5-minute debriefing from the media specialist about what NOT to do with the computers. My school just got a new lab full of Macs, and within the first 2 weeks of school one of the keyboards had already been broken.
In terms of what is available, I noticed I left several boxes unchecked on the survey. Software is installed pretty equally across the district, I believe, but my school doesn't have all the same hardware that I expect a lot of high schools to have. There aren't digital cameras or camcorders for students to check out, and scanners are reserved for teacher use/ special permission only. Part of this is most likely due to the fact that most middle schools don't have the same elective classes that high schools do that would require such devices. Also, we still rely heavily on written work, and only have used the computers for online testing or image searching for poster-making. This leads me to wonder if my students would have trouble utilizing more technology, or if they just aren't given much opportunity.
Have any of my fellow middle school homies noticed any similar differences?
I noticed your use of an ordinal number when you wrote "...our first day in the computer lab.." I am still waiting to see a day in the computer lab. My placement has a couple of computer labs, but only one of our math classes has gone done to the lab. One class used it on one day to look pictures for posters, but I wasn't there to see them work on it. Also, it wasn't really content related. I am still waiting to see how we make use of technology in the classroom. I will have to investigate if the English or History classrooms make better use of electronics. In the math classroom, we're working mostly with paper and pencil in the classroom. There are resources out there, we just don't use them, yet.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow middle school homie, I enjoyed your post! It's interesting that although we teach in the same district, there are some differences between our two schools and the technology they provide. I've listed a few notables in my personal post about technology, but there are some things I think I can comment upon here.
ReplyDeleteThe under 13 rule is interesting in terms of signing up for Gmail accounts. We started typing a paper in my English classes last week and my mentor teacher encouraged everyone to use Google Docs and many of the 7th graders are still not 13, so it was interesting that many of them said they just lied about their ages and created Gmail accounts at home and whatnot. I feel like my teacher should have taken a moment to show everyone who didn't have a Gmail account how to get one (particularly those who were over 13), especially for future paper writing in our class.
Similarly there are only a small handful of cameras to be checked out by students, and I don't think any students really do take advantage of this. I wonder if this is just due to being unaware of what they can do in the media center besides check out books. Ultimately I agree with you that perhaps middle schoolers don't really need all the fancy technology that is available at other schools because they are not required to do the same kinds of projects that would require fancy programs and cameras just yet. I guess they might just wait until they get to high school!
To provide an update/respond:
ReplyDeleteWe've gone to the computer lab a few times since the first weeks, mainly just to let students type up papers or print off images for poster projects. We've also rented one of the laptop carts for similar purposes. So, not really in-depth use of computers, but we're finding that some students don't know how to use Microsoft Word, so there are some challenges with that...
And Kelsey, it's interesting that the whole "illegal" use of Google by middle schoolers kind of just slides by. I definitely have students using Google docs who aren't 13, and no one bats an eye. Hmm.
You mean the students can't spin the laptops on their fingers while talking to their buddies as they walk across the classroom? That seems like a completely reasonable way to transport the technology.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting to note these differences in age. I'm not sure I really started using the internet until I was in high school, and even then I didn't use it tons (just to change my name and song on my myspace...I Will Follow You Into The Dark for like two years...I was so emo). It's interesting to see how different these digital native children are from us in their experiences with middle school. It's nice to see that the school district is monitoring them and attempting to keep them young and innocent (if those even apply).
You mention "age limits" with regards to tech in the classroom but I actually was thinking of something other than what you mentioned. I've noticed an unwillingness by some of the older teachers to adopt the new technologies that have arrived in our classrooms. Have you noticed something similar? I wonder how this might change with our generation of teachers who have grown up with shifting technologies in their youth. Will we will be more willing to adopt new technologies when we get older? Or will I end up being a grumpy old curmudgeon who won't let go of his Inspiron 1525. (Dell 4 lyfe).